NEW REPORT: Second Review of the Council of Europe Recommendation on LGBT Rights

In 2010, the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity were established, and they agreed to review the implementation of the process. In 2018, ILGA-Europe and TGEU supported 11 LGBTQI and 5 trans organisations in preparing the second phase of country reports which would review 16 member states. Along with individual country reports, ILGA-Europe, TGEU, and OII-Europe have also launched a summary report of findings.Read more about the CoE agreement.Read the summary report in full.

Rainbow Search: Year in review from #IEWarsaw2017 to #IEBrussels2018

Since the 2017 Annual Conference in Warsaw, LGBTI activists, groups, and organisations in Europe and Central Asia have faced so many questions... We found both negative and positive answers to those questions. Watch our Year in Review video with Rainbow Search to see all the answers.Watch it now.

A strong call for change – right at the heart of the European political system

At one of the largest ever ILGA-Europe Annual Conferences, hundreds of equality and diversity organisations came together to issue a strong call for change – right at the heart of the European political system. Over 550 LGBTI activists and allies gathered together between 24-27 October in Brussels, at a time when populism, nationalism, anti-equality groups and right-wing extremism are prominent features – infiltrating both our news headlines and our daily lives. And LGBTI equality is at the forefront of all of this.Read the press statement in full.All information about the Conference.

Group photo for the Intersex Awareness Day: ‘Protect intersex children!’

Help us continue the scholarship programme

74 activists were able to attend the 2018 ILGA-Europe Annual Conference on a full or partial scholarship thanks to our generous supporters. We need your help to provide this opportunity to even more activists next year. Make a difference and donate to the Diversity Fund today.Donate to the Diversity Fund.

“Open minds are needed to improve the protection of LGBTI asylum seekers in Europe”

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe has published a human rights comment on LGBTI asylum seekers. Dated on 11 October, the comment discusses the problems that LGBTI asylum seekers face in Europe, such as lack of legal protection, non-application of international standards, problems of safe reception and others.Read the human rights comment.Check our Rainbow Map for asylum laws in Europe.

Voters in Romania boycott restrictive referendum on definition of family

A referendum in Romania asking voters to restrict the constitutional definition of family has failed to reach the required 30% turnout target. The referendum took place over two days on 6-7 October. People were voting on whether they wanted to amend the current neutral wording of Article 48.1 to a narrower definition that excludes many families in Romania – including single parents, multi-generational families, unmarried couples and rainbow families. The proposed definition would have only recognised married different-sex couples as a family deserving of constitutional protection. In order for the result to be binding, at least 30% of registered voters had to cast a ballot in the referendum.Read more about the referendum.More about Romania on our Rainbow Europe module.

PACE’s resolution on rainbow families adopted

On 10 October, a resolution calling for the equal treatment of rainbow families was adopted without any amendments from the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). Based on a report by Jonas Gunnarsson (PACE member, Sweden), PACE has called for the elimination of all unjustified differences in treatment in the field of private and family life based on grounds of sexual orientation. This is one of the most advanced declarations on rainbow families by any international human rights organisation. In the final vote, there were 67 votes in favour, 14 against, and five abstentions.Read more.See the map of family rights in Europe on Rainbow Europe.

Bosnia and Herzegovina to set up a working group for partnership law

The Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina committed to setting up a working group to draft partnership legislation for same sex partners. The right to some form of registered partnership for same-sex couples is a reality in 22 out of 28 Member States of the EU, and 27 out of 47 Members States of the Council of Europe. The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina is taking steps to join this group of nations who champion equality of their citizens regardless of sexual orientation. We urge the Ministry of Justice to include civil society in this working group, and thus ensure that voices from the LGBTI community are heard and taken on board throughout the process of heading towards greater equality.Read more details from Sarajevo Open Center’s statement.See the legal and policy situation on LGBTI people in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Rainbow Europe.

Censorship of LGBTI symbols at a stadium in Georgia

On 9 September, the Georgian national football team played with the Latvian team at the Dynamo Stadium in Tbilisi. Guram Kashia was the vice-captain of the Georgian national team at the game. He is known for having been awarded by UEFA with a prize for supporting the LGBTI community. There was a big online and media backlash from ultra-right organisations against him before the match. LGBTI community members decided to attend this match and support Guram, they took rainbow flags and other posters. However, most of the LGBTI activists were deprived of LGBTI symbols by force and were not allowed to take them inside the stadium. Law enforcement officers were present at the stadium. They searched the fans and when they found LGBTI symbols and flags, they forced the guests to leave them at the entrance.

Equality Movement NGO activists attacked

Four activists from Equality Movement NGO were attacked by their neighbours in the backyard of their office building on 28 September. The perpetrators assaulted them verbally and physically and threatened them with weapons. According to Equality Movement’s latest statement the police officials who arrived spoke to the victims aggressively and didn’t intervene when the perpetrators continued to assault and attack the victims. Equality Movement have reported that verbal insults from their neighbours continued after the incident on 28 September. As a result, they have decided to close their office.

A court decision made public on 1 October has found that the Czech Republic is violating the human rights of transgender people as guaranteed by the European Social Charter. The case had been brought jointly by TGEU and ILGA-Europe in 2015 in cooperation with local activists using the collective complaint mechanism. It is the first transgender discrimination case decided under that procedure. The Committee of the Social Charter found that the legal requirement for transgender persons in the Czech Republic to undergo medical sterilisation seriously impacts a person’s health, physical and psychological integrity, and dignity.Read more.See Czech Republic country page on Rainbow Europe.

#ilga40: Share your memory of ILGA

ILGA has turned 40 years old! ILGA want to celebrate the anniversary at the ILGA World Conference in Aotearoa / New Zealand, which will take place from 18-22 March 2019. They are waiting for your contributions to this great celebration as they want to recount the history of ILGA’s first 40 years with lots of materials. You can share your memory of ILGA by submitting your conference posters, photos, personal memorabilia etc. from the last 40 years and also react on social media with the hashtag #ilga40.See more details about the anniversary.

New report on experiences of LGBTI people in Southeastern Europe

The report “Life on the Margins: Survey Results of the Experience of LGBTI people in South Eastern Europe” has been launched by the World Bank in partnership with ERA and the Williams Institute at UCLA and it analyses the responses of more than 2,300 LGBTI persons across seven countries in the Western Balkans region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Slovenia.Read the report.

ERA Conference took place in Macedonia

The Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey, held its third annual conference in Skopje, Macedonia on October 3-6 with the theme “Against all odds we claim the future.” ILGA-Europe participated along with activists from across the Balkans and Turkey. For the first time, the first day of the conference was dedicated to a Regional Ministerial Meeting hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Macedonia, and the day’s panel discussions featured government officials and LGBTI activists alike.More about the conference.

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